Centering guide mechanism



April 27, 1954 c. E. EMMER CENTERING GUIDE MECHANISM Filed Dec. 30, 1949v a .m: "I, r ....u lung r mu 6 fiat plate H, the top of which forms atable supporting the sheets to be punched. The plat II is mounted at itsends on side frame members l2, l2 and is shown in Figure 1 as being bentdownwardly over the advance ends of said side frame members to close theforward end. of the punching machine. The plate H, as herein shown, hastwo slots l4 and i5 extending therealong for a portion of the lengththereof and each opening to an opposite outer edge of said plate. Theslots 14 and I5 form guides for side guide elements it and I1 guidedtherein for movement therealong and adapted to be inserted in said slotsfrom the open ends thereof during assembly of the mechanism. The sideguide element it, as shown in Figure 3, has a depending tab 13 extendingdownwardly through the slot 14 and seemed to the top surface of asliding element 25, for movement therewith. The guide element i6 mayrest on its undersuriace on the top of the plate -il and forma supportfor one end of the Sliding element 23. The opposite end of the slidingelement is supported and guided in a rectilinear guide 2i secured to thebottom of the plate I i on opposite sides of the element 20, andextending downwardly along opposite sidesof said element and across thebottom thereof.. The rear face of the sliding element20- is recessed toform opposite shouldered ends 23, 23 adapted to be engaged by pins 24,24 which form stops to limit rectilinear travel of said sliding element.The stops 24, 2d also serve as abutment members to hold rack teeth 25 onthe opposite side of said sliding element from the pins 24, 24 into meshwith the teeth of a pinion 21." The pinion 21 is rotatably mountedbeneath the' top of the plate I l on a pin 29 secured to and dependingfrom said plate. The pinion 2'! also meshes with rack teeth 33, cutalong one side of a Sliding element 3| carrying th side guide elementll. The sliding element 3! is slidably supported on the bottom of theplate i i for movement therealong'in parallel relation with respect tothe sliding element 20 on spaced gibbed guidin members 32, 32 and33;"33. are secured to the bottom of plate I I on opposite sides of thepinion 21 and have supporting guiding engagement with the undersid'esand opposite edges of the sliding element 3 l.

Thus, when the side guide element [6 is moved along the table l I theside guide element ['1 will be moved along said table toward or from theside guide eleziuent it by means of the rack 25, pinion 2'! and rack.ill to accurately center the paper with respect to the punches of thegang punch Ill.

A locking screw 35 engageable at its inner end with the forward side ofthe sliding element 3|, in alignment with the pin 29 and pinion 2], isprovided to lock the side guide element'si'lli and i! in the desiredposition of adjustment.- 'As herein shown, the locking screw 34 extendsthrough the downwardly turned forward end portion of th plate H to aposition adjacentthesliding element 3! and is threaded within a block 36secured to the inside of the downwardly turned forward end portion ofsaid plate. A knurled head 35 of said locking screw is on the outer sideof said forward end portion of said plate and affords a convenient meansfor turning said screw by hand.

The collapsible side guide element 11 is shown in Figures 4 and 5 asextending th'rough'a transverse slot 31 formed in the sliding element 3]and as having an" offset projecting locking end 39 depending therefrom.The portionofi the collapsi- The guiding members 32, 3'2 and .33, 33 Lble side guide ll within the slot 31 is of a bosslike formation, offsetto one side of the upwardly projectin portion of said side guideelement, and pivotally mounted on the sliding element 3! within the slot31 on a transverse pivotal pin 40. The offset locking end 39 of thecollapsible guide element i1 is offset to th opposite side of thepivotal pin 40 from the vertically extending guide portion of said guideelement, and has an upwardly facing shoulder M. The shoulder AI isengageable with the bottom surface of the sliding element 3| adjacentthe outer edge of the slot 3'! and held in engagement therewith by aleaf spring 43. The leaf spring 43 is secured adjacent one of its endsto the bottom surface of the sliding element 3! in spaced relation withrespect to the slot 31, as by rivets 44, 4d, and has a transverselyextendin upwardly opening recess or notch 45 formed therein adjacent itsouter end. The notch 35 is engaged by the end portion of the locking end39 of the side guide element H, to lock said side guide in a, verticalposition and to permit said side guide element to be readily flicked bythe finger into the collapsed position within th slot l5, beneath thetop sur face of the table II, and offer no resistance to the passage ofsheets over the surface of the table.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a new and improved form ofself-centering paper punching guide has been provided, one of the sideuide elements of which is collapsible out of the way of the paper beinginserted for punching or withdrawn after the punching operation by asimple flick of the finger. Thus, after the proper side positions havebeen determined for the sheets to be punched and the centering mechanismis locked in position by the locking screw 3 3 the side guide element llmay be flicked downwardly'into the slot i5 beneath the surface of I theplate H, and permit the sheets to be moved into position against theside guide element It with a sliding motion along the top of th tableof'the punching machine.

It should here be noted that since two parallel side guide elements areused that said elements may be either'iiat as shown or may be round toavoid the necessity of having the guide exactly perpendicular to theback gauge of the punch, since the important factor in the punching ofpaper for binding is that the punch holes be parallel to the edges ofthe bound sides of the sheets. It should also be noted that thecollapsible guide element need not be recessed beneath the top of thetable when collapsed, as long as it offers an uninterrupted surface overwhich the paper may pass,v and that it may be detachable as 'well ascollapsible or instead of collapsible if desired.

It will be understood that modifications and variations may be effectedwithout departing from the scope of the novel concepts of the pres entinvention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an'aligning paper guide adapted to center paper or the like forpunching, a table, two sliding elements mounted beneath said table formovement therealong and. a gear connecting said elements together andtransferring the motion of one of said elements to the other, causingsaid elements to move together or apart upon movement of one of saidelements, a vertical guide element mounted on one of said elements andextending vertically along one side of said table and movable with saidelement for adjustable movement along said table, and a collapsibleguide element pivotally mounted on the other of said sliding elementsand movable to extend vertically of said table in parallel relation withrespect to said first guide element and to collapse With respectthereto, said collapsible guide element having a depending end extendingbeneath the pivotal axis thereof, and a leaf spring on said slidingelement engageable with said depending end, for selectively holding saidcollapsible element in an extending or collapsed position.

2. In a paper centering and aligning guide adapted to center paper orthe like for punching, a table, two sliding elements mounted beneathsaid table for movement therealong, and a gear connecting said elementstogether and transferring the motion of one of said elements to theother, causing said elements to move together or apart upon movement ofone of said elements, said table having parallel spaced slotted portionsextending therealong in alignment with said sliding elements, a verticalguide element extending along one side of said table and mounted on oneof said sliding elements and guided for movement along one of saidslotted portions, and a collapsible guide element pivotally mounted onthe other of said sliding elements and guided for movement along theother of said slotted portions, said last named guide element beingmovable into a vertical guiding position parallel to said first elementand being collapsible into its associated slotted portion to permit theuninterrupted insertion of sheets into and the withdrawal of sheets fromsaid guide by movement along the top of said table, and yieldablelocking means having yieldable engagement with said collapsible guideelement, to hold it in a vertically extended or collapsed position.

3. In a paper centering and aligning guide adapted to center paper orthe like for punching, a table, two sliding elements mounted beneathsaid table for movement therealong and a gear connecting said elementstogether and transferring the motion of one of said elements to theother, causing said elements to move together or apart upon movement ofone of said elements,

said table having parallel spaced slotted portions extending therealongin alignment with said sliding element disposed therebeneath, a verticalguide element extending along one side of said table and mounted on oneof said sliding elements and guided for movement along one of saidslotted portions, a collapsible guide element pivotally mounted on theother of said sliding elements and guided for movement along the otherof said slotted portions, said last named guide element being movableinto a vertical guiding position in parallel relation with respect tosaid first element and being collapsible into its associated slottedportion to permit the uninterrupted insertion of sheets into and theWithdrawal of sheets from said guide along the top of said table, saidcollapsible guide element having a depending portion extending from saidassociated sliding element, and a leaf spring member secured to saidsliding element and having a transverse notch formed therein engageablewith the end of said depending portion of said guide element, andreleasably locking said guide element in a vertically extended orcollapsed position.

4. 'In an aligning paper guide adapted to center paper or the like forpunching, a table, two sliding elements mounted beneath said table formovement therealong and means connecting said elements together andtransferring the motion of one of said elements to the other, causingsaid elements to move together or apart upon movement of one of saidelements, a vertical guide element mounted on one of said elements andextending vertically along one side of said table and movable with saidelement for adjustable movement along said table, and a collapsibleguide element pivotally mounted on the other of said sliding elementsand movable to extend vertically of said table in parallel relation withrespect to said first guide element and to collapse with respectthereto, said collapsible guide element having a depending end extendingbeneath the pivotal axis thereof, and a leaf spring on said slidingelement engageable with said depending end, for selectively holding saidcollapsible ele ment in an extended or collapsed position.

5. In a paper centering and aligning guide adapted to center paper orthe like for punching, a table, a sliding element mounted beneath saidtable for movement therealong, said table having a slotted portionextending therealong in alignment with said sliding element, acollapsible guide element pivotally mounted on said sliding element andguided for movement along said slotted portion, said last named guideelement being movable into a vertical guiding position and beingcollapsible into said associated slotted portion to permit theuninterrupted insertion of sheets into and the withdrawal of sheets fromsaid guide by movement along the top of said table, and yieldablelocking means having yieldable engagement with said collapsible guideelement, to hold it in a vertically extended or collapsed position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 328,078 Stowe Oct. 13, 1885 769,111 Pierce Aug. 30, 1904941,199 Johnson Nov. 23, 1909 1,127,975 Elwing Feb. 9, 1915 1,946,375Wentjar Feb. 6, 1934 2,158,466 Little May 16, 1939 2,316,971 O verackeret a1. Apr. 20, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 163,237 GermanyOct. 3, 1905

